In the very unlikely event that the Starship makes it to a nominal trajectory and survives re-entry, will it be attempting the flip-and-burn manoeuvre in the Pacific? Or are we talking a true hard splashdown/bellyflop?

[–] few 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If it gets that far then I'd imagine that it would attempt to flip. Although I do think I recall something said about not doing a flip to ensure that there's nothing that needs to be recovered. This would mean they don't need recovery ships in the area.

[–] few 3 points 1 year ago

The flight profile here https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-2 does not say there will be a flip. But concludes with "Excitement Guaranteed". So anything could happen.